Amazon tribe banking on Internet to ‘alert the world’ in their fight for survival

The Surui people, whose first contact with the modern world was less than 40 years ago, are banking on Google to save them and their ancestral lands from total extinction!

The Surui people are situated in the Amazon forests and have their own name for Google- ‘ragogmakan’ - meaning ‘messenger’. In their battle for survival, they have already started replacing their bows and arrows with hi-tech gadgets and have also started using satellite navigation on their traditional trails through trees.

Their problem is though, the illegal loggers besieging their territory, an isolated 600,000-acre green oasis in Rondonia, Brazilian west. Their chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leading their struggle against the illegal loggers, has come up with the new initiative. Last year he also visited Google near San Francisco to seek their help.

He stated, “We call Google ragogmakan because we hope it will help us in getting our message out”. He is hoping that the tribe can use the reach and power of the Internet to ‘alert the world’ in their fight for survival. To their delight, Google Earth has accepted the idea, and will be providing high-resolution satellite images of their forest homes.

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